APUSH Period 8

United Nations 1945

international organization created after WWII to promote international cooperation, stop wars between countries and provided a platform for dialogue and diplomacy

Cold War 1945-1991

a war of words and threats between the US and Soviet Union that was marked primarily by a political and economic, rather than military struggle between the two nations

Iron Curtain

Term introduced by Winston Churchill to describe the Soviet Domination of Eastern Europe after WWII

Containment

the U.S. policy of containing the spread of communism - conceived by George Kennan (a State Department Employee and expert on the Soviet Union)

Containment

foundation of U.S. foreign policy from the late 1940's until the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990's

Truman Doctrine 1947

President Harry Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism

Truman Doctrine 1947

president designed to promote the economic recovery of Western Europe with massive amounts of U.S. financial aid

National Security Council 1947

Executive agency composed of the president, vice president, and four cabinet members - established to coordinate the strategic policies and defense of the US

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) 1947

Government agency created to gather and evaluate military, political, social, and economic information on foreign nations

Marshall Plan 1948

promote the economic recovery of Western Europe with massive amounts of US financial aid

Berlin airlift 1948

response of the U.S. and Great Britain to the Soviet Union's blockade of western Berlin supplies - continuous flights of thousands of American and British Airplanes

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) 1949

mutual defense alliance among the nations of Western Europe and North America - designed to contain the spread of communism

Development of the hydrogen bomb 1952

the first, which was one-thousand times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki - test the U.S. in the south Pacific in 1952 - Soviet Union, after testing their first a-bomb in 1949 tested their first H-bomb in 1953

New Look 1955

President Eisenhower's policy of reducing the size of the U.S. army, developing tactile nuclear weapons, and building strategic air power to employ nuclear weapons - aka "bigger bang for the buck"

Massive retaliation

Term used by secretary of state John Foster Dulles implying the U.S. was willing to use nuclear force in response to communist aggression

Brinkmanship

Practice under Eisenhower of trying to win international disputes through a willingness to push dangerous situation of the space race

Sputnik I 1957

the first artificial satellite launched into space - by the Soviet Union - marked the beginning of the space race

Space race

Cold war competition between the US and the Soviet Union for supremacy in technology and spaceflight

Nikita Khrushchev

soviet leader who denounced Joseph Stalin in 1956 and improved the Soviet Union's image abroad. (Lost power in 1964 after failing to improve the Soviet Union economy)

Peaceful coexistence

Soviet theory under Khrushchev that the Soviet Union could do this with the US - ended in 1960 when the U.S. was caught sending U-2 spy planes over the Soviet Union

Flexible response

President Kennedy's strategy of considering a variety of military and nonmilitary options when facing foreign policy decisions

Limited Test Ban Treaty 1963

Treaty signed by the United States, the Soviet Union and 100 other nations that banned nuclear weapons tests in the atmosphere, in outer space and under water

Nixon Doctrine

president Nixon's policy of requiring countries threatened by communism to assume most of military burden, with the United States offering political and economic support

Détente

policy of relaxing tensions between the US and the Soviet Union - introduced by Nixon in the early 1970s

Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I) 1972

Treaty signed between U.S. and the Soviet Union to limit offensive Nuclear Weapons and defensive antiballistic missile systems

Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty II (SALT II) 1979

Treaty between U.S. and Soviet Union to limit the number of strategic nuclear missiles in each country - U.S. Congress did not approve the Treaty due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan 1979

After Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979 president Carter placed an embargo on the wheat shipments to Russia, increased spending on defense, and boycotted the 1980 Olympics in Moscow

Fellow-traveler

Someone who sympathized with or supported the beliefs of the communist party without being a member - Many American these were investigated and blacklisted during the late 1940's and 1950's

House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) 1938

Congressional Committee - began investigating suspected Communists and fellow-travelers in the late 1940s and 1950s

Alger Hiss

State department official accused of being a communist spy who was convicted of perjury and sent to prison

McCarran Internal Security Act 1950

Law that required communists to register with the U.S. government and made it a crime to conspire to establish a totalitarian government in the US - also allowed for the detention of dangerous, disloyal, or subversive persons

McCarren-Walter Act 1952

immigration law that permitted deportation and denial of entry into the US for ideological reasons

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

Husband and wife who were executed in 1953 for passing information about the atomic bomb to the soviets

Joseph McCarthy

Republican senator from Wisconsin who began a communist witch-hunt that lasted from 1950 until he was censured by the senate in 1954

McCarthyism

the term used to describe the tactic of making accusations of corruption or disloyalty without evidence and no regard to civil liberties

Army-McCarthy Hearings 1954

Televised investigations by Senator McCarthy - ended McCarthy's popularity and led to his censure by the U.S. senate

Chinese Civil War

War between Chinese government forces led by Chiang Kai-shek and communist forces led by Mao Zedong - 1949, Chiang and his supporters fled to Taiwan, set up a separate Nationalist government

Mohammed Mossadegh

Nationalist leader of Iran who was overthrown with the help of the American CIA - Replaced by Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi in 1953

Gamal Abdel Nasser

Leader of Egypt who successfully opposed the French and British imperial powers during the 1956 Suez crisis

Organization of American States 1948

Organization composed of most of the nations of North America, South America, and the Caribbean - designed to fight communism in the western hemisphere and deal with mutual concerns

Alliance for Progress 1961

President Kennedy's program in which the US provided aid for social and economic programs in Latin America

Bay of Pigs 1961

Invasion of Communist-controlled Cuba by Cuban exiles who were supported by the CIA - failure of the invasion was embarrassing for President Kennedy and the U.S. government

Cuban Missile Crisis 1962

Military crisis between the U.S. and Soviet Union over a secret Soviet attempt to deploy nuclear missiles in Cuba

Mann Doctrine 1964

U.S. foreign police under Lyndon Johnson that called stability in Latin America political and economic reform - by Thomas Mann (an American diplomat and State Department employee

US Occupation of the Dominican Republic 1965

To stop what President Johnson said would be a "communist dictatorship" in the Dominican Republic, U.S. sent soldiers to the Dominican Republic - U.S. invasion provoked protests in Latin America and criticism within the US

Salvador Allende

Chilean president who was considered the first democratically elected Marxist - killed in an U.S.-supported overthrow of his government in 1973

Panama Canal Treaty 1977

Treaty between US and Panama that said the U.S. would abandon its rights to the Panama Canal in 1999

Sandinista Liberation Front

leftist guerilla movement that established a revolutionary government in Nicaragua in 1979 under Daniel Ortega

Korean War 1950-53

War started by North Korean forces crossing the 38th parallel and invading South Korea - United Nations forces, strengthened primarily by the US, launched a police action against North Korea to stop aggression

Vietnam 1954-1961 (Eisenhower Administration)

after French colonists were forced out of Vietnam, it was divided into two nations - north and south. When elections to unify the divided nation were canceled in1958, the U.S. sent aid advisors to South Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh

Nationalist leader of Vietnam who opposed the Unites States during the Vietnam war

Domino theory

Belief that if a nation fell under communist control, nearby nations would also fall under communist control - led to the U.S. sending military forces to aid South Vietnam

Vietnam 1961-1963 (Kennedy Administration)

effort to help south Vietnam and the U.S. increase the number of advisors in South Vietnam and sent special forces to fight for South Vietnam

Tonkin Gulf Resolution 1964

After President Johnson claimed North Vietnamese, forces attacked U.S. boats in international waters in the Gulf of Tonkin - U.S. congress voted to give the president a "Blank Check" to do whatever was necessary to stop communism in South Vietnam

Vietnam 1965-1969 (Johnson Administration)

After increasingly escalating the number of U.S. forces in South Vietnam, President Johnson slowly realized he was fighting a war against Vietnamese nationalism that he could not win - In 1968, President Johnson withdrew from the presidential election and called for peace talks to end the Vietnam War

Vietcong

Vietnamese communist rebels in South Vietnam

Tet Offensive 1968

Vietcong and North Vietnamese Attack throughout south Vietnam that caused public opinion in the United States to turn against the war

Eugene McCarthy

Senator who opposed the Vietnam War and made an unsuccessful attempt to win the Democratic nomination for president in 1968

Robert Kennedy

senator who opposed the Vietnam War and was assassinated while campaigning for the Democratic nomination for president in 1968

My Lai 1968

a village in South Vietnam where U.S. Troops massacred 350-500 innocent women and children - increased public opposition to the war when it became public in 1969

Vietnam War 1969-1973 (Nixon administration)

President Nixon increased the bombing of Vietnam and launched invasions of Laos and Cambodia, he also decided to withdraw U.S. troops from Vietnam

Vietnamization 1969-1973

President Nixon's policy of gradually removing U.S. troops from Vietnam

US withdrawal from South Vietnam 1973

the US withdrew combat troops from South Vietnam

War Powers Act 1973

Law that prevents the president from involving the US in war without congressional authorization

Fall of South Vietnam 1975

South Vietnam fell to communist control

Students for a Democratic Society 1960

Left-wing student organization founded to attack American materialism and work for social justice and civil rights - associated with the anti-war movement of the late 1960s

Kent State 1970

University in Ohio where students were shot and killed by National Guard Troops during a protest against the Vietnam War

Pentagon Papers 1971

Classified government documents on the Vietnman war leaked to the press by Daniel Ellsberg and to the New York Times - Efforts to block publication was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court

Palestine 1948

Region of the Middle East that was partitioned by the United Nations to allow for the creation of a Jewish state (Israel) and a Palestinian state, which was never established

Suez Crisis 1956

Confrontation between Egypt on one side, Britain, France, and Israel on the other - after Egypt tried to nationalize the Suez Canal - U.S., Soviet Union, and the United Nations played a role in forcing Britain, France, and Israel to withdraw

Eisenhower Doctrine

Policy formulated by President Eisenhower of providing military and economic aid to Arab nations in the Middle East to help defeat Communist-nationalistic rebellions

Yom Kippur War 1973

After Egypt and Syria attacked Israel, the Israeli military defeated the Arab armies - U.S. support of Israel led to an Arab boycott of oil to the US

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

Economic alliance of oil-producing countries - mostly Arab that became powerful enough in the 1970s to control oil prices by controlling oil supplies - In 1973, OPEC placed an embargo on the sale of all countries allied with Israel

Camp David Accords 1979

Treaty between Israel and Egypt that was negotiated by President Carter of the United States - Under the terms of the treaty, Israel would return occupied Egyptian territory and Egypt would recognize Israel as a nation

Mujahedeen

Afghan resistance group fighting against the Soviet Union, which had invaded Afghanistan in 1979 - US supported with weapons to fight the Soviets

Carter Doctrine 1979

President Carter's policy that the US would use force to repel any nation that attempted to take control of the Persian Gulf - issued in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

Desegregation of the Armed Services 1948

executive order, president Truman ended racial discrimination and segregation in the U.S. Armed Forces

Brown v. Board of Education 1954

Supreme Court case stating that separated educational facilities for different races were inherently unequal and therefore unconstitutional

Southern Manifesto 1954

Statement issued by 100 southern congressmen - after the Brown v. Board of Education decision - in which they pledged to oppose racial desegregation

Rosa Parks

African American seamstress who refused to give up her seat to a white man on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama - triggering a boycott of the bus system that sparked the Civil Rights Movement

Martin Luther King Jr.

Baptist minister and civil rights leader who was committed to nonviolence - beginning with the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 - led many significant protests in the late 1950s and 1960s

Civil Rights Act of 1957

First significant civil rights legislation since reconstruction ended in 1877 - created the U.S. Commission on civil rights commission of the justice department

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) 1960

Organization formed to give young blacks a great voice in the civil rights movement - organized black voter registration drives, sit-ins, and freedom rides

Sit-in

the act of occupying the seats or an area of a segregated establishment to protest racial segregation - Popularized in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1960

Freedom rides 1961

Effort to achieve integration of bus terminals by riding integrated buses throughout the South

Public order laws

Laws passed by many southern communities to stop civil rights protests by allowing the police to arrest anyone suspect of intending to disrupt public order

James Meredith

African American student admitted to the University of Mississippi under federal court order in 1962

March on Washington 1963

Gathering of civil rights supporters in D.C. to pressure the U.S. Congress to pass civil rights legislation - MLK Jr., delivered his "I Have A Dream" speech at the march

Freedom Summer 1964

Effort by civil rights groups in Mississippi to register Black voters during the summer of 1964

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Law that barred segregation in public facilities and forbade employers to discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sex or national restricted

March from Selma to Montgomery 1965

Civil rights march in Alabama to bring attention to the need for a voting rights act

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Law that outlawed unjust restrictions on voting and authorized federal supervision of elections in areas where black voting had been restricted

Watts 1965

Neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, where a race riot broke out, resulting in millions of dollars of damage and the deaths of 28 African Americans

Black Power

movement that rejected the nonviolence and coalition-building approach of traditional civil rights groups - Advocated self-determination for African Americans (black control of black organizations)

Nation of Islam (Black Muslims)

Religious group founded by Elijah Muhammad, which professed Islamic religious beliefs and emphasized black separatism

Malcom X

Member of the nation of Islam and activist for black separatism - left the nation of Islam in 1964 - assassinated in 1965

Black Panthers

Revolutionary organization founded in 1966 that endorsed violence as a means of social change

Race riots 1968

nationwide reaction in more than 100 cities to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr

George Wallace

Alabama governor who represented a "White blakcklash" to the civil rights movement - opposed racial desegregation and ran for president in 1968 as an independent candidate

American GI Forum 1948

formed in Texas by Mexican American veterans to overcome discrimination and provide support for veterans and all Hispanics - led the fight to end segregation of Hispanic children in schools throughout the west and southwest